Walmart insurance: Is there anything the store won't sell?
The news that聽Walmart is getting into the car聽insurance聽business begs the question: is there anything that the world's largest retailer doesn't hawk?
Surprisingly, the answer is plenty.
You can find food, meds and toys for your dog Rover at聽Walmart, but chances are you didn't buy your pet there. By the same token, you can pick up a wedding veil at聽Walmart, but not a traditional white wedding gown. And there are plenty of battery-powered cars for kids at Walmart, but no life-size versions for grown-ups.
All that could all change someday.
Walmart聽says that almost anything is possible as it pushes to cement its reputation as a place where shoppers can stop in for grocery staples like milk and eggs and also cross off a number of other things on their "To-Do" list.
The pressure to become all things to all people is only intensifying as聽Walmart聽continues to face competition from online rival Amazon.com, which is expanding into new products and services.
"We are all about one-stop shopping," says Deisha Barnett, a聽Walmart聽spokeswoman.
In auto聽insurance,聽Walmart聽hooked up with a new site called AutoInsurance.com that lets shoppers quickly find and buy聽insurance policies online to cut down costs. That move comes just a few weeks after聽Walmart聽launched a money transfer service.
What other services could be on the horizon for the retail behemoth? Brian Sozzi, an equities strategist who follows聽Wal-Mart, believes the retailer will continue to focus on adding services.
The possibilities are endless. Shoppers can order caskets online from聽Wal-Mart聽and they can even buy life聽insurance聽in 217聽Walmart stores. But they'll have to go elsewhere to arrange funeral services. And while customers can turn to聽Walmart to help them file their taxes, they have to go elsewhere if they need assistance writing their will.
"Anything is fair game," says Walmart's Barnett.
